February 14th is one of the biggest days of the year for students at North Atlanta. With the big day approaching fast, many are scrambling to find a special person to spend Valentine’s Day with. There are many people saying what you should do to land a Valentine, but not many will tell you what you shouldn’t do in February (and year-round). Here are the biggest icks and what not to do (may vary depending on the person) when looking for that special someone.

Being Rude to their Friends

If you like a person and want to show your face around them more, you might start by getting to know their friends. While this is a great step in the right direction, you can undo all of your progress by giving the wrong first impression. Unless it’s a joke everyone is in on, being mean to the people close to your love interest is a major ick that lots won’t look past. 

Flirting with their Friends

When creating a stronger bond, you might choose to befriend your significant other’s friends. To an extent, this is a perfectly fine safety net to have in the early stages of a relationship. The safety net evaporates when you begin talking to multiple people in one friend group. Although you think they might not find out, they will. This inevitably leads to losing two people and being the villain of that group for an indefinite amount of time.

Being Rude to Authority Figures

The kindness you show should not stop at their friends. Many people will also be put off when they see you being rude to others. The main deterrents are teachers and parents. If you are mean to teachers, especially ones many consider nice, more than just the person you like will be frustrated with you. This extends to your parents. If you bring that special someone to your house, show that you respect your parents. 

Little White Lies

Trust is the foundation of a successful relationship and should be built and maintained from the very beginning. Lying to your hopeful partner does not help reinforce this. Holding back some information that does not affect the other person and will help save their feelings is not a bad thing. The problems start when unnecessary and hurtful lies are told. Remember: The truth always comes out!

While these are all very serious things, there are also some silly icks that you might want to avoid as Valentine’s Day approaches. These are widely held by myself and others alike, and can sometimes create bumps in a relationship:

• Drinking milk casually
• Being rude to animals
• Proudly using Apple Music
• Wearing neon clothing
• Shorts in the winter
• Leaving their s/o on delivered when active

If you follow this list of what to avoid, finding a valentine should be easy. These should also extend to the rest of the year in order to find and keep a great person for you.